2005 Online Poker Sorespots

There was a lot of growth in the online poker industry in 2005, and along with growth comes growing pains. There were plenty of controversies, and not all of them centered on various government agencies and their never ending debate over the legalities of online poker.Some of the biggest was a sneaky trick pulled by Gambling Federation casino, who included a virus that would keep computers that downloaded its software from finding the websites of its competitors.The biggest by far, however, had to be when poker giant Party Gaming dropped Empire Online from its affiliation relationship, which in turn caused Empire to launch a series of lawsuits against its former partner. With a underbid buyout offer from Party Gaming rejected by Empire, it is hard to look at the situation and not wonder who was working whom. 2005 had its share of ups and downs for online poker, but mostly ups.